It was Halloween night in the NBA and Victor Wembanyama took it very seriously. First he turned up as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, and then, when it was time to take the court, he dropped 43 points to leave a competitive Timberwolves side with no answer.
The San Antonio Spurs’ biggest star, and a clear MVP contender, racked up that many points on 17-of-34 shooting from the field, including 3-of-8 from three. He added 7 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 assists to his stat line. He already shone against Sacramento and he is only getting better.
‘Wemby’s’ statistical combination had almost never been seen in Texas; so much so that to find a game with 40 points and 5 blocks you have to go back to 1996, when David Robinson did it. The Frenchman has repeated it and we are enjoying it.
Despite the exceptional level expected of Wembanyama, this is in fact the first time he has taken 30 or more shots in a game San Antonio went on to win. On Christmas Day 2024 he took 31 for 42 points, but they lost 117-114 to the Knicks. Four days later he shot 30 times, but they lost 112-110 to Minnesota.
Mitch Johnson and Wembanyama’s collective impact
The Spurs coach, Mitch Johnson, was very pleased with the performance of his biggest star, but he liked even more that the numbers came from the team’s collective play and from ‘Wemby’ combining with the others.
“When he plays alongside his team-mates, he really creates problems for the opposition, whether by creating space, through ball handling or with combination plays between two or three players. When the best players in this league work together with their team-mates, it can sometimes be almost impossible to stop them. You simply have to choose how you want to be beaten. He has made a remarkable improvement in a very short time,” he concluded.
(Photograph by IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
